In Zimbabwe, voting has begun in the country’s parliamentary elections. President Robert Mugabe has predicted “a mountainous victory” for his party. But opponents have accused Mugabe of rigging the vote. Mugabe dismissed the claims. A total of 120 parliamentary seats are up for election. If Mugabe’s party can gain a two-thirds majority it would then have the power to revise the constitution. The 81-year-old Mugabe has been president since Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain in 1980. He has accused his opponents of being stooges of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. But Mugabe himself has been widely accused of rigging the polls. Opposition candidates say food aid to opposition supporters has been cut off and that many international election observers have been barred access to the polls. The Guardian of London reports Army officers have been placed in charge of polling stations and ballot boxes have been made of transparent plastic so opposition voters can be identified. In one of the first reports of trouble, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said one of its candidates in southern had disappeared after an attack by ruling party supporters on the eve of the poll.